Just a Practical Joke

"Hey, Padfoot!" James Potter spotted his friend across the other side of the field, between Rubeus Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow. Sirius Black's long dark hair was flying backwards against the wind, as it was a cool, cloudy day. Unnaturally cool, James remembered, for a summer evening in June. It was funny what the mind remembered.

Sirius was silently shaking with laughter- or at least it seemed to be silent, as James couldn't hear him from the space they were apart and because of the wind in his ears. Smiling, he summoned his friend over. "What's so funny?" James asked him.

Sirius couldn't answer him, as he had just started to double over from the laughter. When he came up for air, he could barely explain between guffaws. "Old Snivellus is about to get the shock of his life. You see him over there?" Sirius pointed to the enormous tree behind them, to which a stooped-over young man, with what must have been several broomstick's length of a stick, was running towards pell-mell.

James smiled in recognition. "Yeah, that's Snape. Oi, Snivel-" he called, turning around, but then stopping when Sirius hushed him loudly. James's grin suddenly drooped. "Wait a minute. That's the Whomping Willow- Snape's going to get himself pummeled. What's he playing at-"

"He's not," Sirius snickered. "That long stick he's got- he's going to press the knot, and- well, let's just say there's going to be a big surprise waiting for him at the end of that tunnel."

James's eyes widened at Sirius. "Are you joking? Did you tell him to do this?"

Sirius shrugged faux-innocently. "I might have just hinted to him about it-"

"Sirius, you idiot," James said, and to Sirius's surprise, he shoved him out of the way and began to run after Snape; stumbling over clumps of grass and molehills, he heard Sirius call behind him, "Prongs, he's long gone! You're never going to catch up to him! Prongs!"

"We'll see about that!" James yelled over his shoulder, and within moments, he was long gone.

*

Severus Snape lay flat on his four-poster bed, the only one currently in his dormitory save for Liam Boiler, who was asleep and probably dreaming of girls. Severus slowly inhaled, exhaled, and stared up at the ceiling. Again, he replayed his conversation over with the git Black he had had an hour before in his head:

"You know, Snivelly, if you wanted to, you could go in after him."

Severus looked up at him. "What?" he sneered at Sirius.

Sirius's eyes sparkled with mischievous glee. "You know. Go after him. See what Remus is doing. None of the rest of us even know what he does over there- could be masturbating for all we know."

Severus looked the young man up and down, with a look of mingled disgust and distrust on his face. "And I suppose you know of a way to get under that tree without getting yourself walloped."

Sirius nodded at him, smiling broadly. "All you need is a nice long stick- you poke it at a knot in the tree trunk, all the branches stop moving, and you're in." He took an easy step backwards. "It's that easy, Snivellus."

He continued to smile at Severus. Severus continued to glare at him.

"Even if you aren't lying, how am I supposed to believe you any more than a common hinkypunk?"

Sirius shrugged. "I suppose you won't, will you? Not unless you try it for yourself or something." And with that he gave Severus an infuriating wink, and bounded off away from him.

Severus went over the possibilities in his mind. When had any of the Marauders ever done something in the favor of him? What if the knot simply triggered an even more violent reaction from the tree, causing its limbs to tear him limb from limb? What if they planned to pull yet another juvenile prank on him, perhaps once he reached the spot, an ambush? It wouldn't have been the first time they had tried something, that was sure...

And yet... and yet there was a burning desire in Severus to humiliate one of the Marauders in such the way they had taunted him ever since he and James had first exchanged glances. Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity for him to catch one of the others for once and let them see what it was like? Let them be the victim for once? He knew that the chance felt too good to even consider passing up...

And so, that night... with a good list of defensive jinxes and spells in the back of his mind and a wand held firmly in his hand, Severus went down to the Whomping Willow that blustery eve.

*

Panting thickly, James dove down into the tunnel, bending over so as not to hit his head on the earthy ceiling above him. He knew that it wasn't likely he would find Snape before Moony did- the idea made his stomach drop- but he still made his way down that tunnel as fast as he could manage. The thought of seeing anybody after an encounter with a werewolf, even an enemy which he hated with all his being, was unbearable to even imagine. And then there was what Remus's fate would be once it was news to everyone that he had hurt and possibly killed a fellow student... He wouldn't just be outing himself as a werewolf to his peers; he would be unknowingly damaging his future career. These horrible concepts helped James ignore the piercing stitch in his side and keep up the pace until...

Oh, God, there he was. Snape was barely visible from where James was standing, but by the glowing light of his wand he could just see his body at the end of the tunnel... He heard scuffling and fierce groans of pain, coming from the room where Remus was, the room which Snape was almost entering... he saw him open the door and peer inside- James's heart leapt as he lunged down the path-

"NO! SNAPE! DON'T- WAIT!" he bellowed after him. Within a few seconds he was by Snape's side. He

knocked Snape's hand away from the door, which shut itself promptly.

Snape's eyes were bright, white orbs in the darke, and wider than James had ever seen them. "What was

that-" He swallowed. "Was that what I think he- think it was in there?" he asked James, shaking slightly.

"Yeah," panted James. "He's a werewolf, you right bloody genius," he got out, with as much righteous indignation for Snape as he could muster. Suddenly there was a forceful "thump!" on the door, making them both jump. James grabbed the sleeve of Snape's robes roughly and yanked him down towards the opposite end of the tunnel. "He's about to come out, we've gotta get out of here! Run!" he cried.

Snape hadn't it in him to put up a struggle- the sight he had witnessed was enough to knock any shallow schoolboy fight out of him, although James didn't let go of his sleeve until he was certain he was being closely followed. Both of them ran and ran until they were outside of the tunnel, until they reached the front of the school doors and away from the danger of Remus's werewolf self.

It was several breathless minutes afterward that one of them chose to speak. "You moron, going in after Moony when he was only recuperating. What were you trying to prove?" James said to him.

Snape's eyes flashed with anger. "What was I trying to prove? Why did you even bother going after me? You should have been pleased that I was going to be murdered by that werewolf you call a friend." James said nothing, his face blank as marble slate- though it did flinch a little when Snape insulted Moony.

With nothing left to say to him, James gave Snape a smile, and turned away from him, opening the double doors. "Hey!" Snape snarled after him. He turned James around and pointed a finger at him. "If you're expecting a breathless thanks of gratitude from me, you arrogant prick, I assure you-"

"I didn't expect to get anything from you," said James coolly. "Not even a small 'thank you' for saving your life." Snape's look of fury fell slightly at this. He looked as if he couldn't decide what to think of the situation he was in. "But when somebody's about to get themselves killed in front of you, you don't just walk away and go about your life- you try and help whoever needs to if you can. It doesn't matter how much you hate the guy's guts, or anything- if their life is in danger, you- you do something about it." He paused as he inhaled, exhaled. "It's just human nature, Snape." And with that, he walked away, and this time Snape didn't try and stop him.